[TheWhiteStig]

Where would you park in a parking lot if you want to avoid getting door ding?
I always park at the far end of a parking lot, but 90% of the time I come out from shopping I see big trucks or old beaters parked beside me (most of the time, very close to me). It's not like there's no other parking space, they just want to park beside me! Touch wood, I don't have any dent/ding yet. I know it'll eventually, but I'd do whatever I can to avoid that.

[bsamoul]

People see your car by itself and think that you're better than them and will park their car there by spite. A better place would be to park it about 4 stalls away from other cars because then it looks like there were other cars around it that just moved, not you going out of your way to put it alone. The body shop told me that.

[simp0man]

I always park at the edge so I could park farther to the edge allowing the other side enough room to open there doors so they wont hit mines.

[r3volution]

I look for nicer cars, and park beside them. If someone is out to key some cars, they're probably going to go for the most expensive one.

I also try to park next to vans. 2 of their 4 doors are sliding, and usually owned my parents (more mature crowd).

[kefler]

My friends and I look for what we call "island parking"... basically try to park where one side is one of those curbs/dividers so nobody is on that side. You can find those and not be the furthest out so you don't stick out so bad too. Most importantly you can position yourself really close to the curb on that side to get more space.

If you have a choice, its best to put your passenger side adjacent to the island because the guy on the other side will have his driver side away from you. There's a chance (50%?) that whoever parks next to you will not have a passenger in which case no door even opens next to your car.

[methodtim]

I take my truck shopping and park next to bimmers just to scare y'all.


No, no, I kid. I hate trying to fit my truck into parking spots. I take the Mini - that thing can fit anywhere.

[emarkd]

Originally Posted by kefler

My friends and I look for what we call "island parking"... basically try to park where one side is one of those curbs/dividers so nobody is on that side. You can find those and not be the furthest out so you don't stick out so bad too. Most importantly you can position yourself really close to the curb on that side to get more space.

If you have a choice, its best to put your passenger side adjacent to the island because the guy on the other side will have his driver side away from you. There's a chance (50%?) that whoever parks next to you will not have a passenger in which case no door even opens next to your car.

+1 This is always what I do. Assuming you can keep from curbing your rims, you can nudge up VERY close to the island and have lots of room between you and the next car. That way even if there is a passenger, they've got lots of room to get out.

[exo-ak-dk]

i have on big dent on my door ......hate it!!

[2thdr]

This is difficult. When I ha my e46 M3, I used to always park far away and was generally ok. In situations where I could not, I used to look for other German cars to park beside, or minivans, since my theory was that there were sliding doors which could not impact my vehicle.

While I think that the idea of parking beside an island on the passenger side is a great one, casual observation in parking lots, at least to me, showed that the biggest problem with door dings occurred with people who actually had too much room and misjudged the available room when they just let their doors swing wide open.

Undoubtedly, I think this is one of the biggest PITAs of owning a nice car. I switched to an e70 X5 last year, and it has been so much easier since big doors only hit my running boards now. I have been carefree. But, as I get ready to trade in for the e92 M3, I am once again starting to feel the (welcome/fortunate - ?) twinges of paranoia of having M3 parking concerns.

The one thing that I always used to do, though, is that when I exited my car, I took pictures of the license plate of the cars on either side of me (if any) so that if there was noticeable ding, at least I may have a chance at knowing who did it, specially if any paint transfer occurred.

One of these days someone will invent a car alarm system with a hard drive in the trunk and small, motion-activated, fiber-optic lenses that can be mounted in the side-view mirrors and inside the vehicle.

Could someone get on that, please?

[methodtim]

Originally Posted by 2thdr

One of these days someone will invent a car alarm system with a hard drive in the trunk and small, motion-activated, fiber-optic lenses that can be mounted in the side-view mirrors and inside the vehicle.

Could someone get on that, please?

That would be almost worthless since those cameras would not be able to capture the license plate of the car that dinged you. Plus, I'm sure cops have better things to do than chase down serial car door swingers. Unfortunately, car dings are just one of the unfortunate consequences of living in densely populated urban areas.

My last two new cars (they were both Honda's, but I loved them very much) have averaged a grand total of one day in service before getting dinged. My wife's Mini; however, has been ding free for the three months we've owned it. The lesson here: size matters.

[Christos]

Originally Posted by SK1

Where would you park in a parking lot if you want to avoid getting door ding?
I always park at the far end of a parking lot, but 90% of the time I come out from shopping I see big trucks or old beaters parked beside me (most of the time, very close to me). It's not like there's no other parking space, they just want to park beside me! Touch wood, I don't have any dent/ding yet. I know it'll eventually, but I'd do whatever I can to avoid that.

Every time I park away from others, someone has to park next to me. It’s really unbelievable; someone should follow me around with a camera just to prove it.

I drove to a store with my cousin one day, recently. The store was not open yet and had about 5 cars in the parking lot. I parked pretty far away with many, many open spots all around me. An older man pulls up in this old pickup and parks right smack next to me, so close that he could not even get out, he tried to and I yelled at him to stop and that I would move. My cousin couldn’t believe it, I felt like I was on candid camera and people were watching me get mad.

And, I always pick an end parking spot and hug the curb to give ample room for a car door next to me to open without hitting my door. Well wouldn’t you know it, EVERY time I do this, some jerk thinks I am giving him more space to park and the jerk actually parks over the line and closer to me. I give up

[Gig103]

What do you expect from our society of assholes and self-righteous pricks? They see you parked away from everyone else and think it's funny to park near you because they know it will piss you off.

Most people don't care about their cars, and they ruin it for those of us who do. I don't even take my car to a car wash to avoid swirls, yet someone managed to scrape along my car in a parking spot. I have to post pictures later, but I wanted to clean the area first so that someone can chime in if it can be polished out...

[windshear]

When not driving my 335i coupe, I drive my trusty tacoma. Nine years old with zero door dings. Usually park it away near nicer cars. Its in better condition than most newer luxury cars.

[nicknaz]

+1 on the "island parking" approach.

I also try to look for a parking spot between 2 concrete posts (one on either side of the car), or a large parallel parking spot in a parking garage

OP people are trying to spite you for sure. Sucks that you live in that kind of area. Try the "island parking" method since it is less obvious you care about your car

[quest556]

+2 on the "island parking" approach. I do that too when possible.
I feel your pain tho, other night, a trip to Best Buy, I parked at the far end of the deserted lot and came out to find some jacka$# had parked so close to me with his passenger side that I has to struggle to get in my car. No ding or otherwise but it was clearly deliberate spite. wtf?

[Turbomatic]

Most of the door dings happen from being in tight parking lots where the spaces are close and large turnover of cars (ie shopping centers and movie theaters). I park away from SUV and two door cars. Two door cars need alot of space for their doors. In the SUV case the tip of their door's lower edge tend to hit the middle of our car doors, and even a light tap could ding the car's door.

When I park my car I prefer to park next to nice cars. I figure the owners would not want to chip their door edge on my car and thus saving me a door ding in the process. Problem is if they leave and joe blow comes in with his SUV full of screaming kids.

Ultimately you have no control over this stuff. You could be the most careful person in the world and one bad luck day could result in scraps and dings on the car. I got a ding on my car from a rock on the highway..what can you do?

[StoneCold]

I would walk a bit longer by parking father out in the parking lot. If there is a situation in downtown area, then I do not have a choice.........

[lipek]

are we talking about parking???

[Dan73]

They should just paint the lines wider.

[Tag]

Originally Posted by 2thdr

One of these days someone will invent a car alarm system with a hard drive in the trunk and small, motion-activated, fiber-optic lenses that can be mounted in the side-view mirrors and inside the vehicle.

Aim high; someone needs to invent a car force field!

[Joonsup]

it's the luck of the draw in my opinion. no matter where you park there will always be a time when another car is parked close to you, increasing the chances of a door ding. You just have to cross your fingers that people will be considerate enough to be careful when getting in and out of the car. Whenever you park your car just give a little prayer and pray to whoever you believe in and ask him/her/it to protect your expensive depreciating asset.

[Cactus]

Originally Posted by windshear

When not driving my 335i coupe, I drive my trusty tacoma. Nine years old with zero door dings. Usually park it away near nicer cars. Its in better condition than most newer luxury cars.

Same here! I drive my 14 y.o. Ford F150. It also has zero door dings due to my parking carefully. So if you see my truck parked next to your BMW it's because I value my truck as well as my 328.